Yes, the mask just won’t fit my nose. No matter how I tweak or adjust it, there’s a gap that lets air out, and it goes to my eyes.
I switched from a full face mask to the Airfit that @BippityBoppityBoo mentioned above. It has been a game changer for the second time! I wore the full face one for years and years, then I started not sleeping as well with it. The hose coming out of the top of the Airfit was wonderful! And I’m able to tighten this mask enough for it to work, but not so tight it hurts.
My daughter needed a new CPAP machine when hers died, but let it go for 3 years when life got in the way. She finally went to the doctor in June and was sent home with a sleep study machine, but was told it would take 2 months to even receive a new CPAP. They called her the very next morning and told her she’d stopped breathing 110 times per hour, and to come in and pick up a CPAP immediately - she’d jumped to the head of the line. She’s had it for 3 months now and feels like a new person. It took her about a week to get more than 6 hours sleep, but even so, that was 6 straight hours more than she’d been getting.
Plus everyone else in the house can sleep without earplugs.
Two weeks now with the machine. The app tells me I’m down to usually 2 or 3 events per hour. The other night it was .7. I’ve only needed a nap once, and that was probably more because I drank the night before, which I don’t do much any more.
I switched to a different size nasal pillow because I was getting consistent leakage out of my left nostril no matter how I adjusted the strap, especially when I was on my back. The larger pillows worked for a while, but last night I was getting the same leakage. I don’t know if I have a weird left nostril or what.
I have sleep apnea but I couldn’t tolerate the CPAP device. However I tried to adjust it I was getting too much air and swallowing a lot of it. This led to bloating and GAS, GAS, GAS! It was gross, and I didn’t feel any better or more productive during the day.
I can’t use a dental device either, ever since my front lower teeth decided they wanted to do a slow motion square dance. No mouthguard will fit. Eating a really good sandwich with a lot of ingredients now is like cutting cheese with a pair of pliers.
I still can’t get the CPAP to stop blowing air into my eyes, or to give me proper air instead of bursts of too much or too little. I’ve also read some worrisome Facebook posts about how simple soap/detergent doesn’t actually clean out the hose/mask germs enough.
I use mine every night, but I’m wondering how they know how often you’re using it? I’ve gotten one call asking how it was going, but that’s it.
They have computer chips in the machine. It puts the information on the cloud somehow. I don’t know tech stuff. What I do know is that the doctor, the CPAP company, and I can review the data. The doctor is able to see my scores and how often I’m using it, to make sure I’m in compliance, but also to make sure my therapy is going well. And I like to review my scores periodically from the AdaptHealth app.
The CPAP machine has made a huge difference in my life. I’m not sleepy during the day anymore.
I have an app that gives me my report every day on usage, leaks, how many times I removed the mask (it always thinks it’s one time, although I rarely remove it at all) and how many events per hour. I believe it’s the same info that’s sent to my doc.
The machine actually includes the number of times you take the mask off and put it back on, as one number. You took the mask off to when you woke up, so it’s 1. You still get a perfect 5/5 score in that category even if you take it off twice.
But I want it to say zero! And I want a pony.